Offshore Wind Farms in US Waters Would Generate Both US and Foreign Maritime Jobs

With no offshore wind energy farms yet built off U.S. coastlines, various states over the last few years have proposed offshore wind energy legislation as a future investment in renewable energy as well as a vehicle for American job creation. The immediate future of U.S. offshore wind farms may depend on whether Congress renews certain tax credit and federal loan guarantee programs. In the event that offshore wind farms move forward, it is likely that both U.S. maritime and foreign maritime workers will be involved in construction and maintenance.

A recent study by The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimated the potential generating capacity from offshore wind farms located off U.S. coastlines to be 4 times the present total U.S. electrical generating capacity. The construction and maintenance of offshore wind farms to tap into even a small percentage of this potential will demand a robust and competent maritime workforce. The U.S. understandably wants to avoid the situation that occurred in England with the installation of the Thanet Wind Farm, currently the largest operating offshore wind farm in the world (300 megawatts). The Thanet project received criticism for its lack of significant British job creation.

U.S. wind farm developers, green energy advocates and some U.S. politicians have stressed that offshore wind farms will create jobs for both U.S. maritime and U.S. shore-based workers. In addition, some have pointed to a federal statute known as the Jones Act, to assert that foreign-flagged vessels crewed by foreign maritime workers may not even be involved in U.S. offshore wind farm projects. However, such a broad statement is not entirely accurate, and the issue is somewhat complex.

The Jones Act, which was enacted in 1920, establishes a system for protecting American maritime jobs and requires that U.S.-flagged vessels be used to transport merchandise between points in U.S. territorial waters (i.e., up to 3 nautical miles off the coastline). Moreover, this requirement is extended 200 miles offshore to the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) by the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) in certain scenarios involving man-made objects that are affixed to the seabed.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the federal agency that enforces the Jones Act, has issued a number of rulings that conclude that the Jones Act in certain situations does not apply to the actual installation of wind turbines by large-scale vessels known as jack-up lift vessels. Moreover, there has been some debate on whether the Jones Act would apply to vessels travelling to an established wind farm located over 3 miles off the coastline in the OCS for such things as maintenance and repair. A bill clarifying that the Jones Act would apply in this maintenance/repair scenario (HR 2360) has recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives and is now awaiting a vote in the U.S. Senate. Thus, at present, from a purely legal standpoint, foreign-flagged vessels would likely be able to participate in the installation of the proposed wind farms, but there is some uncertainty as to whether foreign-flagged vessels would be able to participate in maintenance/repair work.

Complicating all of this is the dearth of U.S.-flagged jack-up lift vessels capable of undertaking much of the very heavy work involved in the installation of offshore wind turbines. To further confound matters, with a boom in offshore wind farm construction in Europe and China, many foreign-flagged jack-up lift vessels capable of such work are now booked for the next several years.

Factoring in all of the above, it is likely that large foreign-flagged vessels will play a significant role in the initial installation of wind turbines off U.S. coastlines, with an opportunity for smaller U.S.-flagged vessels to render assistance. However, with the lack of available large scale foreign-flagged vessels, there are obvious long term investment opportunities for the construction of large U.S.-flagged vessels or for the conversion of other large U.S.-flagged vessels to undertake much of the above heavy work. One possible option is to convert U.S.-flagged vessels now working in the oil and gas fields in the Gulf of Mexico for this purpose. Such investment opportunities will obviously become more attractive if a large number of wind farms move forward in the U.S..

As to certain maintenance/repair, which could be done by smaller U.S.-flagged vessels already in existence, if Congress passes HR 2360, U.S.-flagged vessels will be required to maintain and repair the wind turbines. Moreover from a practical standpoint, even if HR 2360 does not become law, it may not make economic sense to employ smaller foreign-flagged vessels for certain maintenance/repair work. Thus if U.S. offshore wind farms become a reality, U.S. maritime workers as well as foreign maritime workers will likely be involved in construction and maintenance.

4 Comments

Offshore wind energy will increase the cost of electricity which will lose more jobs than it will create. NREL needs to be shut down. Their push for wind energy at any cost is not in the best interest of the public. The only jobs that will be created are in China, India, and elsewhere at our expense.

I think the direction offshore wind should be heading is not the way they are presently looking. Combining wind with wave and or tidal/current technology would greatly increase the electricity generation , reduce the capital costs per kw and provide electricity over a wider time span. The established offshore wind companies need to stop spitting in the wind.

The author is correct stating that the situation of the startup of the US Offshore Wind Industry is not bright. Besides the absence of the modern Jack up Crane Vessels, for assembling wind turbines on the preinstalled foundations, there is also a factor of the high cost of offshore wind. The Market Forces operate in the US are much stronger that in Europe and China, which Government provides large subsidies to attract developers in the offshore wind field. As long as Utilities in the US can buy on the open market electricity from any source of "clean" energy the offshore wind, based on the ongoing technology of installing wind turbines offshore, practically has no chances to become a major source of renewable energy in our country.
The Efficient Engineering LLC recently came up with the new Offshore Wind Power (OWP) Technology for installing wind turbines offshore in a manner that would bring the cost of offshore wind electricity to the level comparable with the onshore wind. This would be achieved by a Catamaran Wind Turbine Installer (CWTI), which would be able to install wind turbines foundations in depth up to 200 meters and then place wind turbines on them. The CWTI does not need legs, since it uses as the base for safely placing wind turbines on the foundations, the already preinstalled foundations. The CWTI does not need Heavy-lift Revolving Crane, since it uses for lifting completely assembled wind turbine on the near shore stand the buoyancy force of its pontoons. The same force would be used for lowering wind turbine on the foundations.
The CWTI deepwater capability would open for harvesting 2/3 of the total US offshore wind potential along the continental shelf, which are out of reach by the ongoing technology.
By OWP technology foundation for wind turbine is based on Compliant Guyed Tower concept that allows to place them in 200 meters depth.
The implementation of the OWP technology would be a start of the US Offshore Wind Industry.

The author is correct stating that the situation of the startup of the US Offshore Wind Industry is not bright. Besides the absence of the modern Jack up Crane Vessels, there is also a factor of the high cost of offshore wind. The Market Forces operate in the US are much stronger that in Europe and China, which Government provides large subsidies to attract developers in the offshore wind field. As long as Utilities in the US can buy on the open market electricity from any source of "clean" energy the offshore wind, based on the ongoing technology of installing wind turbines offshore, practically has no chances to become a major source of renewable energy in our country.
The Efficient Engineering LLC recently came up with a Breakthrough New Technology, named OWP for Offshore Wind Power, for installing wind turbines offshore in a manner that would bring the cost of offshore wind electricity to the level comparable with the onshore wind. This would be achieved by a Catamaran Wind Turbine Installer (CWTI), which would be able to install wind turbines foundations in water depth up to 200 meters and then place wind turbines on them. The CWTI does not need legs, since it uses as the base for safely placing wind turbines on the foundations, the already preinstalled foundations. The CWTI does not need Heavy-lift Revolving Crane, since it uses for lifting completely assembled wind turbine on the near shore stand the buoyancy force of its pontoons. The same buoyancy force would be used for lowering wind turbine on the foundations.
The CWTI capability of installing wind turbines in deepwaters would open for harvesting 2/3 of the total US offshore wind potential, which is located in the depth not reachable by ongoing technology.
The OWP foundation for wind turbines is based on the Compliant Guyed Tower concept that allows placing them in deepwaters up to 200 meters.
The implementation of the OWP technology would be a start of the US Offshore Wind Industry.

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Robert B. Hopkins is a Baltimore-based partner in the Trial Practice Group of international law firm Duane Morris LLP. He practices in the area of litigation with a concentration on transportation, products liability and commercial litigation...